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Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness?

Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness?
Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness?
Background: mindfulness-based interventions can successfully improve wellbeing in young adults. Mindful colouring is an applied mindfulness practice and improves short-term wellbeing. Less evidence is available about effectiveness of regular, self-guided colouring. We investigated a self-guided two-week colouring intervention for university student wellbeing.

Methods: one-hundred and forty university students completed a minimum of 10 minutes self-guided colouring, six times over two weeks. Participants were assessed at baseline and two-week follow-up using self-report measures of wellbeing, relating to quality of life, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and mindfulness.

Results: colouring significantly improved all measures of mental health, wellbeing and mindfulness in students who completed at least six sessions of self-guided colouring.

Conclusion: colouring is an accessible activity that can improve student wellbeing when carried out regularly over two weeks. Future research should investigate the impact of longer-term colouring practice on wellbeing, and the effect of this intervention in the general adult population.
Keywords: mindfulness, colouring, psychological wellbeing, mental health, students
psychological wellbeing, mental health, students, colouring, Mindfulness
1753-3015
Palmer-Cooper, Emma C.
e96e8cb6-2221-4dc7-b556-603f2cf6b086
Seneviratne, Rose
f58e13c5-c00c-4d78-87a9-6fb91860e2ad
Woodford, Evie
2fa88c7f-fa54-4d6f-a7a9-ec8d5929e779
Palmer-Cooper, Emma C.
e96e8cb6-2221-4dc7-b556-603f2cf6b086
Seneviratne, Rose
f58e13c5-c00c-4d78-87a9-6fb91860e2ad
Woodford, Evie
2fa88c7f-fa54-4d6f-a7a9-ec8d5929e779

Palmer-Cooper, Emma C., Seneviratne, Rose and Woodford, Evie (2024) Can self-guided colouring improve university student wellbeing, mental health, and mindfulness? Arts & Health. (doi:10.1080/17533015.2024.2419921).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: mindfulness-based interventions can successfully improve wellbeing in young adults. Mindful colouring is an applied mindfulness practice and improves short-term wellbeing. Less evidence is available about effectiveness of regular, self-guided colouring. We investigated a self-guided two-week colouring intervention for university student wellbeing.

Methods: one-hundred and forty university students completed a minimum of 10 minutes self-guided colouring, six times over two weeks. Participants were assessed at baseline and two-week follow-up using self-report measures of wellbeing, relating to quality of life, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and mindfulness.

Results: colouring significantly improved all measures of mental health, wellbeing and mindfulness in students who completed at least six sessions of self-guided colouring.

Conclusion: colouring is an accessible activity that can improve student wellbeing when carried out regularly over two weeks. Future research should investigate the impact of longer-term colouring practice on wellbeing, and the effect of this intervention in the general adult population.
Keywords: mindfulness, colouring, psychological wellbeing, mental health, students

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 17 October 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 October 2024
Keywords: psychological wellbeing, mental health, students, colouring, Mindfulness

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 495794
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495794
ISSN: 1753-3015
PURE UUID: 47eb56e7-502d-4712-8675-e31d201a23e4
ORCID for Emma C. Palmer-Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5416-1518
ORCID for Rose Seneviratne: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5593-9483

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Nov 2024 17:45
Last modified: 23 Nov 2024 02:59

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Contributors

Author: Rose Seneviratne ORCID iD
Author: Evie Woodford

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